Dirty Paws
by DemonHydralics
Summary: "Jumping up and down the floor, my head is an animal. And once there was an animal..."- Of Monsters and Men


An old turtle sat on a mossy rock as he told a very special, historical story to the children of all the species. The next generation sat unusually still, anticipating the story. As the old turtle told the story,the children tensed up and leaned forward in excitement.  
"A long time ago," he began, his voice old and unused. "There was a Goddess."  
As he spoke his words weaved intricate pictures in the air showing the story that was being told. The old turtle told the old tale so well the children wondered if he had experienced such an adventure before. As the images solidified, the children lost themselves in the world of the past.

A petite woman with the head of a wolf was running across an open meadow. You could hear her muttering under her breath; but her voice was not husky and rough as would be expected, but smooth and sweet. The woman stormed into the forest that lay across from the meadow, following the faint glow of laughter. As she roared, the sound was so powerful it flattened the high grass around her.

As she raged through the forest she finally came across the man she was looking for; Sun. He was a tall, muscular man with red hair and orange, flaming eyes. He was laying on a tree branch, laughing uncontrollably. The girl looked up and yelled at the man.  
"Sun! Get down here this instant! I demand to know why you set my garden on fire! You ruined my black roses! Those took years just to bloom!" Sun stopped laughing and looked down at the woman.  
" You have to relax sometimes, you're so uptight, you know that? I set your garden on fire because I thought you might finally relax!," exclaimed Sun. The girl was fuming mad, she growled at Sun and climbed the tree, disturbing Sun's pet dragonfly.  
"Sun, you jerk! My garden is what I use to relax! You're such a troublemaker, I'm surprised you've lived this long!" Their argument lasted from daybreak to nightfall. Around noon the dragonfly was more than tired of the two deities fighting and decided to leave.

For the next few weeks the creators were busy with their duties and didn't realize that the dragonfly was missing. During that time the dragonfly had the most amazing journey ever. Shortly after the dragonfly left the conflict, he reached a mountain range and decided to fly across them. As he flew high, the altitude became too cold. Ice began to form on his thin, translucent wings. He struggled to keep his flying even and not to fall to his cold,snowy death. The ice thickened, his wings growing heavier with every passing second. After minutes of struggling had passed his snow laden wings snapped to his streamline body and he plummeted to the earth. As he fell he cried for help, but the other winged creatures ignored him. Just as he had accepted that he was going to die a large Snowy Owl swooped down and supported him on her back.

She herself was struggling to fly as her feathers had been burned and many primary feathers had been lost. The bird went into a dive, bringing the dragonfly to a large forest in a mountain valley. She rested the dragonfly on a tree and landed beside him. "What are you doing on me?" questioned a deep ,resonating voice. The dragonfly began to shiver in fear. What was this large being questioning them? Could it eat him in his weakened state?

As the voice prepared to speak again, by clearing its throat, the bird bowed. Its wing elegantly sweeping across it's chest. When she spoke her voice was beautiful, it sounded like a million chimes blowing in the wind.  
" I am Snow Rose, and my companion and I are just wishing to rest on your boughs, with your permission of course, Great Spirit." uttered the voice chuckled.

"That is fine my child, but what has happened to your lovely feathers? A Gadfeather such as yourself does not fight, but travel and sing peacefully."

Snow Rose looked up, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.  
"The King has attacked our humble forest, I was on my way to get the Creators when I saw this poor dragonfly falling and no one helping. I had to take action for I am not one to sit by when others are in trouble." replied Snow Rose. The Dragonfly looked up at Snow Rose, amazed by her kindness.  
"Thank you Snow Rose" said the dragonfly.  
" What is your name son?" questioned the Great Spirit.  
" I am Spectrum, messenger for Sun." responded Spectrum.

The Great Spirit moved into the tree and took on a solidified form. A branch reached up and touched Snow Rose on the back, passing a healing energy through the tree into Snow Rose. She shivered, her feathers ruffling as the healing took place. Her primaries grew back, the burns disappeared and her charred beak healed. By this time Spectrum's wings had defrosted and had began to dry off.  
"Spectrum, Snow Rose you must go inform the Creators of this crisis." commanded the Great Spirit. Spectrum nodded.  
" We will leave as soon as my wings dry."  
"Then it is agreed." said the Great Spirit, " You will leave in an hour. I must leave now though. Goodbye!" and with that farewell the spirit left the tree and went on his way.  
"I will go find some local creatures and find a less cold route to the Faithful Forest. Stay here." said Snow Rose. Spectrum nodded and lightly flapped his wings, gauging how long it would take for his wings to dry.

About an hour and a half later, Snow Rose returned with a small pygmy owl. As they landed Spectrum flew over to them.  
" This is Gylfie, she is a master of reading the stars. She can get us too the Faithful Forest through the warmest route." introduced Snow Rose.  
"I heard what happened, are your wings fine?" questioned Gylfie.

" Yes, my wings are fine. Your concern is very kind. We can head out right now." replied Spectrum. Snow Rose,Gylfie and Spectrum rose into the air and flew, Gylfie in the lead with Spectrum in the middle and Snow Rose following behind. A few days later the small group arrived at the Faithful Forest. As they came into the deities view, Spectrum sped up and flew frantically to Sun.  
Sun turned and smiled when he saw Spectrum.  
" Hello my friend! Do you have any news for me?" questioned Sun.  
" Yes, but this news is very dreadful news." responded Spectrum. Snow Rose and Gylfie landed during Spectrum's report. After the tale had ended, you could feel unease settling around Sun.  
" It seems she is needed again. She's not going to be happy when she hears the news. Stygian has returned, and he wants revenge." said Sun. He called forth a small, magical flame and sent it to find the warriors he was looking for. Sun turned to Snow Rose.  
"You have seen his destruction first-hand. Has his power increased while he slumbered?" questioned Sun. Snow Rose shook in fear as she nodded, her feathers rippling. Sun stood and turned, facing the mountain range in the distance.  
" We will head out as soon as they arrive. I just hope it won't be too late." he uttered.

The goddess was gardening, the sun was setting, all was peaceful. A twinkle in her eye she tended her charred black roses, bringing them back to life slowly. Magic winding around the plants. Suddenly a flame appeared in her garden. She growled and summoned water to douse the flame when suddenly, a voice came from the fire.  
" Hey wait! Don't douse me! Stygian is back and we need you to fight him again!" The woman's eyes widened and she stepped back, gasping. Her eyes narrowed and she transformed. Her bones broke and reformed turning into a large, horse sized, black wolf. Her paw steps thundered as she turned and ran in the direction the flame came from.

The day was nearing its end as the wolf reached her destination. She was panting heavily and collapsed to the ground. Sun ran over and placed his hands on her flank. His magic running through her body revived and rejuvenated her systems. The she-wolf got to her feet and nodded, showing her thanks to Sun. Sun smiled and began to run, the she-wolf followed and Gylfie,Snow Rose and Spectrum took to the skies.

A day later the group had made it to the Fertile Forest. There was destruction as far as the eye could see. Grass was on fire or charred and smoking. The trees were on the ground broken into splinters. The wolf lowered herself to the earth and prepared to pounce, sending her magic out to sense the location of Stygian. All the sudden a large black cloud of matter appeared over a destroyed hill and on it lay Stygian.  
"It seems you have arrived." stated Stygian," But not alone as I expected. Do you not remember the time you used to rely on me for comfort, for protection?" The she-wolf howled in rage.  
" I never relied on you for such things, Stygian!" Stygian's face contorted with rage.  
" You deny your feelings and the truth! How deceitful you are."

The she-wolf growled in anger, and launched herself at Stygian. He moved out of the way, morphing into a large bat. The two great creatures clashed in a titanic battle. Sun floated around, launching fire bolts at Stygian. Spectrum,Gylfie and Snow Rose flew around the battlefield looking for openings in Stygian's attack. The great goddess's power emanated around the battlefield, healing the forest only for it to be broken again during the monster clash. Stygian's claws tore at the she-wolves flesh. She winced in pain and measured the power she had left. She must seal Stygian soon or she would have to open her own power seal. She had been sealing excess power in a tattoo on her shoulder for many years now and if she used the seal she would most likely die. Her body would not be able to withstand the power, and would shut down. As Stygian flew around hurling balls of antimatter her way she stopped to think about how she had sealed him before. The trick would not work on him again, but perhaps she could lull him into a false sense of victory. She began to weave her magic through the air creating the image of Stygian's worst fear. Stygian laughed maniacally and swung his wing through the magical image.  
" Your tricks won't work on me again fool!" he shrilled. The she-wolf could feel her power fading and morphed into her human form. She drew from her belt two jagged,glistening swords. She launched herself at Stygian. As she was much more agile in this form she was able to slice his wings enough to send him crashing down. She smirked when Stygian morphed into his human form,sensing that he had low magic levels.  
" Sun! Take over for a bit while I gather energy!" she called. Sun nodded and took her place as she sat,legs crossed and shut her eyes. She didn't move at all as she gathered nature's energy and replenished her power. Sun was a having a very hard time battling Stygian. Even though he flipped and twisted and turn he still was taking many hits, not to mention his fire had barely any effect on Stygian. Every time he blasted flames towards Stygian he just moved out of the way or pushed it away with a surge of power. Sun had never fought an enemy this strong before. Sun's power was growing weaker and he could not fight any longer. Just as Stygian sent a large shadow dagger speeding towards Sun, it was deflected. There in front of Sun stood the goddess. Her eyes were filled with rage, and her magic levels restored. As she swung her blades towards Stygian, they blurred and disappeared. Stygian's face changed from one of anger to one of confusion. Suddenly he felt a large pain in his chest and looked down. There lodged in his chest were the goddess's two swords.  
"How?" Stygian coughed, blood spilling from his mouth.  
" I transported the blades from in front of you to behind you and their momentum did the rest." explained the goddess venomously. Stygian collapsed and died, his eyes wide and unseeing.

The goddess stood up and walked over to Sun, Gylfie, Snow Rose and Spectrum. She released her magic and it wove around their bodies, healing them. As they returned to full health, the goddess bit her thumb and placed it the seal on her shoulder. A insane amount of magical energy burst from her, mending the forest. As she was expending the energy the seal was giving her was it flowed into her body. She didn't die, but experienced lack of energy. After the forest had been healed, Sun, Spectrum and the goddess went back to the Faithful Forest. They parted ways with Snow Rose and Gylfie, who went back to the mountain valley.

The image dissipated as the old turtle finished his tale. The children were completely amazed and wanted to hear more tales from the old turtle but sadly, it was time to go home and eat. The children left one by one, each thanking the turtle for the amazing story. When all the children had left the old turtle's image wavered, turning into the goddess. She smiled and jumped off into the woods to her friends. They turned and walked deep into the forest.


End file.
